Well Christmas has come and gone but we had a nice one.  We managed to squeeze in a gingerbread house.  It was the first one we have tried and we were all pleased with it, although one of the walls fell over and one half of the roof slipped a bit.

During his last night at our house, Solomon filled the kids stockings.  The boys are hoping he will come back next year.

After Christmas Eve dinner and the Christmas Eve church service, the kids finally got to open their stockings.

Adelaide really liked these cloth dolls.

The boys were really happy with their walkie-talkies, although using them has proven a little difficult.  The press the button to talk, lift to listen thing is a little tricky!

We said good-bye to Solomon.

On Christmas morning Solomon had gone back to the North Pole, but the kids were so excited they hardly noticed!

Adelaide was especially excited to finally be celebrating her first Christmas!

Naturally, she was an old pro at opening gifts.

Santa brought the boys personalized super hero capes and masks.  They have their initial on the back.  Here is Austin doing his best super hero pose.

Austin got several new hats to wear around.

Since Christmas is over we have been trying to get settled back in to a normal routine.  We have put away the new things and taken down the Christmas decorations.  The kids have been playing with their new toys.

Since Austin always wants to paint but I don't always want to get out the mess (!) I got him a couple of the books that you just add water to the colors at the bottom and then paint.  They worked surprisingly well.

Austin was nice enough to share with his big brother.

Gavin is very excited that we are supposed to have snow tomorrow.  I'm happy there's no school so we don't have to leave the house.  Happy New Year everyone!